Globe: Distribute 700 Mhz Band to Existing Telco Players to Help Improve Internet Speed in PH

Globe Telecom believes that the equitable distribution of the unused 700-megahertz frequency band currently held by San Miguel Corporation (SMC) will help improve Internet speed in the country, and is one of the answers to the explosion of mobile data use.

“Part of the solution to the clamor for faster Internet is the harmonization of the 700 Mhz frequency,” said Globe General Legal Counsel Atty. Froilan Castelo. “Giving active and operating telecommunications companies access to this band will allow the industry to provide broadband and data services at faster speeds and in a more cost-efficient manner,” he added.

Castelo said that as early as 2005, Globe already wrote to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) requesting for an allocation and assignment of frequencies within the 700 Mhz and 800 Mhz for its broadband wireless network, but NTC did not act favorably on its request.

Earlier, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) also pressed the NTC to auction off part of the 700 Mhz frequency band to industry players who actually have more subscribers than SMC. PLDT’s Regulatory Affairs head Atty. Ray Espinosa said that the frequency is very important in terms of providing local networks with the ability to attain much needed capacity and speed.

SMC holds 90 Mhz out of the total 100 Mhz on the 700 Mhz band. The company’s Wi-Tribe and High Frequency Telecommunications control 80 Mhz and 10 Mhz respectively, while New Century Telecommunications holds the other 10 Mhz.

Liberty Telecoms Holding Inc., SMC’s holding firm for Wi-Tribe, was actually placed under corporate rehabilitation and debt restructuring in 2005. This was after it suspended its operations due to financial difficulties and lack of capital required to operate. Liberty reported a net loss of P432.95 million in the first semester of 2015.